Intel is investigating a potential bug that may be causing recently launched SSD 320 solid state drives to fail. The company is offering replacement drives to affected customers until the issue is resolved, a customer service representative said.

In Intel forums, users are complaining about SSD 320 drives crashing due to power issues, causing data loss. In some instances the storage capacity on the drive is being reported as only 8MB after the crash.

Free replacements

An Intel technical support representative said that until the issue is resolved affected customers will be sent a replacement drive. To apply for a replacement drive, customers are urged to use Intel's customer support contacts. The company also offers live chat support.

The SSD 320 was released in March and is being used in both PCs and Apple Mac computers. The drive, which has received positive reviews, is offered with capacities ranging from 40GB to 600GB.

Intel has had issues with SSDs crashing in the past. In 2009, it pulled a firmware upgrade for its X25-M consumer SSDs the day after users complained about the software crashing drives.